History Of Silent Movies

Photos courtesy of Essanay Silent Film Museum

A unique collection of early movies and memorabilia is waiting for visitors to the Niles District of Fremont. Here, the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum (NESFM) recalls the glory days of silent films that centered in a small community at the mouth of canyon made famous by early stars such as Broncho Billy and Charlie Chaplin. The Broncho Billy Silent Film Festival in Niles sends visitors 100 years back in time to watch movies that made history. Early incarnations of modern movies remain entertaining and retain the appeal that excited audiences in the early 1900s. Movie stars were idolized and revered as they brought their charisma to the screen; among them, the festival's namesake, Broncho Billy. Films of that era - westerns, horror, mystery, situational dramas and comedies - used a live pianist, acting talent and facial expressions to convey the story. "Flickers" were a social gathering where people could relax and enjoy moments away from the toils of ordinary life. Silent films, precursor to today's "talkies" and special effects, were an important segment of society during the early 1900s and provide current viewers with a peek at life during those times. Although some may imagine that films of this era are too dated to maintain interest, they remain entertaining and visually attractive. Filled with timeless storylines, good acting and clever situations, they continue to enthrall modern day audiences.

Early Silent Films – The Rich History of Silent Films in Hollywood ...

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Early Silent Films – The Rich History of Silent Films in Hollywood

By: Carl DiNello

By the middle of the 1920′s, with the increasing popularity of early silent films, you could count on every town having at least one movie theater. Going to the movies, at that time, was a lot different then it is these days. Today you see a feature film and possibly a few previews, but overall you will only be spending about two hours on average in the theater.

This was not the case in the middle twenties as going out to see a movie was a much larger entertainment event. You would spend at least four hours watching not only previews, but film-shorts, newsreels, and maybe even a cartoon prior to the feature film. And that’s not all, chances are that there would it was a double-feature. That’s right, a second full-length film to complete the movie-going package. Going to the movies was a genuinely big event for people, who knew that they were surely getting their moneys worth!

And the most interesting thing of all is that these movies had no sound.

Films Without Sound

Hollywood’s earlier silent films left the actors dependent on method acting or pantomime in order to convey their characters feelings to the audience. Occasionally, there were subtitles for their dialog, but they were quite short, insuring the audience would not be distracted by written words. Instead, more often then not, music played a big role in these otherwise silent films helping to convey the emotion related to a scene.

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And unlike watching a movie with sound, where one would have to be quiet in order to hear the characters spoken lines, audiences would talk softly further enhancing the social aspect of attending these silent films.

One tragic aspect of the silent film era was the fact that some of the public’s most loved stars were unable to make the transition into talking pictures. This was due to the difficulty audiences had adjusting to the actors real voices after having seen them in so many silent films often imaging how they would sound.

Stars that were larger then life on the silent screen, such as Clara Bow and Rudolph Valentino, faded away with the introduction of sound. And as a result, a great deal of acting talent disappeared. However, stars like Charlie Chaplin and Lionel Barrymore were able to make a successful transition to films with sound and continued their very successful acting careers.

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